Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources: Doctrine and Covenants 125–128, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2020)
Doctrine and Covenants 125–128, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources
Doctrine and Covenants 125–128
The Edward and Ann Hunter home, Nauvoo, Illinois, USA, was the site of two revelations received by Joseph Smith in September 1842 concerning baptisms for the dead.
Texts
Historical background and the earliest manuscript of each revelation, as published in The Joseph Smith Papers
Revelation, circa Early March 1841 [D&C 125]
In early March 1841, Joseph Smith dictated a revelation directing the Latter-day Saints in Iowa Territory to settle in Zarahemla, Lee County, Iowa Territory, or in other appointed gathering sites. More …
Revelation, 9 July 1841 [D&C 126]
On 9 July 1841, Joseph Smith dictated a revelation for Brigham Young, releasing him from extended travel and admonishing him to remain with and care for his family. More …
Letter to “All the Saints in Nauvoo,” 1 September 1842
On 1 September 1842, Joseph Smith dictated to William Clayton a letter addressed to church members in Nauvoo, Illinois, informing them that he was planning to leave the city in order to evade arrest and extradition to Missouri. More …
Letter to the Church, 7 September 1842 [D&C 128]
On 7 September 1842, Joseph Smith dictated a letter addressed to the church giving further instructions on performing and recording baptisms for the dead. More …
People
Biographical facts and historical images of individuals associated with the revelations
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Edward Hunter
Historical Background
This substantial volume contains the minutes of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo from its founding on March 17, 1842, through its final meeting on March 16, 1844. Eliza R. Snow, secretary of the Nauvoo society, later carried the book to Utah and used it frequently in instructing local Relief Society leaders and members.
Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, 1842–1844, Church History Museum.
Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book
The record of thirty-three meetings of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo commences with the founding meeting on March 17, 1842. A few weeks earlier Sarah M. Granger Kimball, a wealthy young matron in Nauvoo, proposed forming a “Ladies’ Society” to provide clothing for workers constructing the temple in the city. More …
Joseph Smith gave this watch to Eliza R. Snow, secretary of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, admonishing her to begin and end the meetings on time.
Pocket watch owned by Eliza R. Snow, ca. 1840s, Church History Museum.
Revelations in Context
Essays on the background of each revelation
Organizing the Church in Nauvoo
Doctrine and Covenants 125, a brief revelation received in March 1841, concerns the establishing of the Zarahemla stake across the Mississippi River, in Iowa Territory. More …
“Take Special Care of Your Family”
A week after Brigham Young’s return to Nauvoo, on July 9, 1841, Joseph Smith visited him at his home. More …
Letters on Baptism for the Dead
When the Lord restored through Joseph Smith the doctrine of the redemption of the dead through the performance of proxy baptisms, He answered age-old questions and satisfied deep longings. More …
Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days
Narrative history of events surrounding the revelations
Volume 1, Chapter 39
The Seventh Trouble
By the end of August, the letters John Bennett had published earlier that summer were being reprinted in newspapers across the country, damaging the church’s reputation and making it harder for missionaries to share the message of the restored gospel. More …
Volume 1, Chapter 46
Endowed with Power
As the workers prepared the attic of the temple for the endowment and sealings, baptisms for the dead continued in the basement. Under the Lord’s direction, Brigham instructed that men should no longer be baptized for women nor women for men. More …
Recording Baptisms for the Dead
A Church historian displays rarely-seen records of baptisms for the dead that illustrate important principles
Worship Services in the Unfinished Nauvoo Temple
A Church historian explains how Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo worshipped in the still-unfinished Nauvoo temple
Church History Topics
Essays on subjects related to the revelations
Baptism for the Dead
Revelations to Joseph Smith reaffirmed the necessity of baptism for salvation and taught that this ordinance needed to be performed with restored priesthood authority. More …
Female Relief Society of Nauvoo
When seamstress Margaret Cook noticed that construction workers on the Nauvoo Temple were in need of shirts, she proposed the idea of a sewing group. More …
Emma Hale Smith
Emma Smith, wife of Joseph Smith, played a prominent role in the restoration of the Church. More …
Eliza R. Snow
Eliza Roxcy Snow was born in Massachusetts in 1804 and grew up in Ohio. More …
Missouri Extradition Attempts
Following the armed conflict between Saints and other Missourians in the fall of 1838, several Church leaders, including Joseph Smith, were arrested and imprisoned on a variety of charges. More …
Sealing
Latter-day Saints believe that God has restored to the earth the power given to the ancient Apostle Peter to bind, or seal, on earth and in heaven. More …
As a missionary in Great Britain, Wilford Woodruff sent his wife, Phebe, this key-wind mantle clock when he learned of the death of their young daughter Sarah. The clock was crafted by the Church’s first London convert, watchmaker Henry Connor.
Mantle clock owned by Phebe Woodruff, 1841, Church History Museum.
Places
Maps and information about places associated with the revelations from The Joseph Smith Papers, Historic Sites, and other helpful sources
Chronology
Timeline placing each revelation in the context of key events in the Church’s first century